Prayagraj (UP), Apr 22 (PTI) Shakti Dubey, who has secured the top rank in the Civil Services Examination 2024 conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), achieved the feat without enrolling herself in any coaching institute, her father revealed on Tuesday.

Dubey, a resident of the Mamabhanja Talab area in the Naini area of Prayagraj’s Yamuna Nagar locality, studied locally up to Class 12.

“Shakti studied till Class 12 at the SMC Ghoorpur, just nearby, and later topped the B.Sc exam from the University of Allahabad,” her father, Devendra Dubey, a sub-inspector in the Uttar Pradesh Police, told reporters here.

“After graduation, she pursued M.Sc from the Banaras Hindu University (BHU), where she also topped. Though we initially sent her to Delhi for coaching, the COVID-19 pandemic forced her to return home and she continued her preparations on her own,” he said.

Shakti’s mother, Prema Devi, said the news of her daughter topping the exam was overwhelming. “I could not believe it at first. This has been possible only with the god’s grace,” she said, adding that Shakti is currently in Delhi and will be returning home soon.

According to the UPSC, Shakti appeared in the examination with political science and international relations as her optional subjects. She holds a B.Sc degree in biochemistry from the University of Allahabad.

Harshita Goyal and Dongre Archit Parag secured the second and third ranks respectively in this year’s examination, the commission announced on Tuesday.

The Civil Services Examination is held annually in three stages — preliminary, mains and interview — to recruit officers for the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and other central services.

The preliminary examination for 2024 was held on June 16 last year, with 9,92,599 candidates applying and 5,83,213 appearing. A total of 14,627 candidates qualified for the written (main) examination in September 2024.

Of them, 2,845 made it to the personality test conducted between January 7 and April 17 this year.

In all, 1,009 candidates — 725 men and 284 women — have been recommended for appointment to various services by the UPSC. PTI RAJ KIS RC